Safdarjung Hospital becomes first central hospital to deliver IVF baby

A 36-year-old woman delivered a baby boy through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) at Safdarjung Hospital on Friday

In a first for any central government hospital in the country, a 36-year-old woman delivered a baby boy through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) at Safdarjung Hospital on Friday, doctors of the hospital said.

Dr Divya Pandey, who was among the team of doctors at Safdarjung who oversaw the IVF process till delivery, said that the baby boy was born to a couple—the woman is 36 and the man 37—who have been married for six years. (HT photo)

Dr BL Sherwal, medical superintendent of the hospital, said on Saturday that Safdarjung Hospital became the first central government facility to successfully delivery a baby through IVF.

“The important project of IVF facility at obstetrics and gynaecology department, at any central government hospital, turned into reality on the auspicious day of Lohri, on Friday, when the first IVF baby was born. The baby was delivered by prof Dr Bindu Bajaj, the present head of IVF unit, and her team,” Sherwal said.

He said both the mother and the baby are currently stable and recovering at the hospital.

While this is the first such feat for a central government-run institute, in 2008, Delhi government’s Lok Nayak Hospital became the first government facility in the capital to deliver a set of twins—a girl and a boy—through IVF. The twins were born to a 29-year-old woman, who could not conceive as both her fallopian tubes were damaged.

Generally, conception occurs when an egg cell (ovum) in a woman is released from an ovary, travels through the fallopian tube, and is fertilized by the man’s sperm. The fertilized egg continues to travel while it undergoes numerous cell divisions. It then rests in the uterus to grow.

Dr Divya Pandey, who was among the team of doctors at Safdarjung who oversaw the IVF process till delivery, said that the baby boy was born to a couple—the woman is 36 and the man 37—who have been married for six years. The woman had a history of previous intrauterine insemination failures. In an IVF treatment, the egg and the sperm are fertilised outside the woman’s body before the embryo is embedded into the uterus.

“The delivery happened at 3pm on Friday via emergency lower segment Caesarean section. It has just been 24 hours but the mother and the child are doing well. This is the first time that a central government hospital has completed the entire process, from IVF to delivery, successfully” said Dr Pandey.

Sherwal said the groundwork for setting up an IVF centre at Safdarjung Hospital started in 2015, and the groundwork for the project was completed in 2019, but the project itself got delayed owing to Covid-19 pandemic.

“This treatment is completely free of cost and the facility will be beneficial for many couples who are unable to have children but cannot afford expensive treatments in private clinics,” Sherwal said, adding that a dedicated infertility OPD is open from Monday to Saturday in the OB-GYN department at the hospital.